Leon's William Yarbrough hoping performances lead to U.S. recall

GUADALAJARA, Mexico -- Leon goalkeeper William Yarbrough was not heavily involved in his side's comfortable 1-0 victory against Chivas in the Estadio Omnilife, as the Guanajuato club's defense made easy work of Chivas' weak attack. But overall, he is happy with how things have gone so far for him in this 2016 Clausura.

"Whenever you get minutes, your confidence grows and I'm feeling good," U.S. international Yarbrough told ESPN FC after the game.

Yarbrough went through a difficult 2015 Apertura, losing his starting spot at Leon to Christian Martinez. That led to U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann overlooking the Aguascalientes-born goalkeeper for the three call-ups in the second half of the year, following the Gold Cup.

Now back starting and on-form for La Fiera, who sits in third place in the Liga MX, Yarbrough is hoping that his name will be on Klinsmann's list for next month's World Cup qualifiers against Guatemala.

"Of course," he said. "It is something I look forward to and want and that's why I have to have work as hard as I can to get that call-up again."

"But for that to happen I have to be as focused as possible and do well here at my club because doing well at your club is what gives you the right to be called up to the national team," explained Yarbrough.

Recent performances in 2016 seem to have put Yarbrough back in the international frame.

Goalkeeper William Yarbrough has earned back his starting spot at Leon and hopes to be part of the U.S. national team squad for next month's World Cup qualifiers.

Elsewhere this weekend for Americans in Mexico, there was a Liga MX debut for 19-year-old Sebastian Saucedo for Veracruz against Club America. The Real Salt Lake loanee featured on the right wing for the final 21 minutes of the 1-1 draw.

There wasn't such good news for Ventura Alvarado, who was left out of America's squad and played the full 90 minutes for the Under-20s against Veracruz.

Up in Torreon, Los Angeles Galaxy's CONCACAF Champions League rivals Santos Laguna fell 2-1 to Liga MX leader Monterrey on Friday in a game involving two left backs from the United States.

Jorge Villafana completed his sixth consecutive league game for Santos, while Edgar Castillo went 66 minutes for Los Rayados.

There was another U.S. left back on display for Queretaro, with Jonathan Bornstein going 56 minutes of Los Gallos Blancos' 2-1 away loss to Cruz Azul, in which Luis Gil entered the field in the 64th minute.

Also on Saturday, Paul Arriola came on in the 80th minute as Club Tijuana pulled off a memorable 2-1 victory against current Liga MX champion Tigres at the Estadio Universitario.

Both Joe Corona and Sonny Guadarrama were unused substitutes for Dorados de Sinaloa in their 3-2 home loss to Pumas on Saturday, a result which puts the team on the brink of relegation.

Pachuca and Omar Gonzalez remain within one point of Monterrey in second place in the Liga MX after Sunday's 5-2 comeback victory over Puebla at home.

Gonzalez went 68 minutes at center back and his team was actually 2-1 down up until that point, but four goals in the final 10 minutes earned Pachuca what turned out to be a comfortable victory.

Tom Marshall covers Liga MX and the Mexican national team for ESPN FC. Twitter: @MexicoWorldCup.